


An Unwanted Return

by Adagal



Series: Monster/Apocalypse AU [4]
Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Demons, Gen, Journey to Hell, Sad, bit of torture, murdoc trying to be a good dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-10-18 18:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20643542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adagal/pseuds/Adagal
Summary: When Noodle ends up getting dragged to where she was originally from against her will, it's up to the rest of the gang to find her and get her back. without ending up stuck there permanently themselves...





	1. Chapter 1

The desert can be a very dry and sad place. Especially when the world is in a post-apocalyptic state, where the sky always seems to be different shades of grey and there's nothing for miles except the moans of brainless zombies and dead plants. 

2D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel stood at the outskirts of the woods, if one could really call it that what with all the dead trees and grass. They all looked out at the dry, concrete like, cracked up flat land that was known as the desert and collectively sighed. It would be a long trek ahead of them. 

"Do we even know where we're going from here?" 2D groaned. He hated walking long distances enough already, the idea of walking the length of the desert was going to be the death of him, and that was saying something considering he was technically dead already. 

"We're planning on finding some shelter to live in across here, there's no place back there to be," Russel said. 2D sighed and nodded. Despite everything, Russel was right. There was nowhere else to go, as everything was either locked up for survivors, taken by large wildlife, or burnt to the ground. 

"It'll be alright 2D," Noodle said, looking up at the upset zombie. "And if you get too tired, I could always fly you." Noodle spread her wings out for emphasis, but 2D waved it off. 

"Eh, I think I'll be fine. Besides, we've already walked so much. What's a little more?" 

Noodle chuckled and shrugged, folding her wings away. And with that, the crew set off across the desert. 

About a few minutes in, both 2D and Murdoc were tired and sweating, their hair plastered across their faces. Clearly unable to take it anymore, Murdoc pulled his cape back across his shoulders and said, "Right, I'm gonna scope things out. See how long it takes for us to reach the other side." Before anyone could protest, Murdoc promptly shifted into his bat form and took off. Noodle sighed. "I'll follow him." Then she too spread her wings and took off after him. 2D and Russel stayed where they were for when either one would return. 

"Murdoc!" Noodle called. "Wait up!" Murdoc looked behind him to see Noodle trying to catch up. With a groan, he hovered in mid-air while waiting for the demon. Her hair was all halter-skelter, and she too looked tired and tense. 

"What ya want?" Murdoc groaned. 

"At least give some general direction to where you're going. Took me five minutes just to track you down here," Noodle scolded. Murdoc rolled his beady eyes and sighed. 

"Fine, I'm sorry, I'll give a heads-up next time, yada yada. Why don't ya tell the others where I'm headed then, and I'll continue going in this direction? Haven't seen any end to this desert thus far anyhow." 

Noodle scoffed, but flew back the way she had came nonetheless. 

Back on the ground, 2D and Russel had been staring at the sky in silence, waiting for either Murdoc or Noodle to come back. When they saw Noodle returning, they became relieved, happy that one of them was back and safe. 

"Any news?" Russel asked. 

"Murdoc took off this way, but didn't find any end yet. Come on." Noodle gestured towards where Murdoc flew to, and led the others along. 

Meanwhile in the air, Murdoc stayed hovering for what felt like hours. Why wasn't Noodle just flying them over? Or better yet, flying herself over and taking Murdoc to where the others were? Luckily, he did eventually spot the three heading up on the horizon. Quickly, he dipped down to meet the others. The problem was he didn't have a total grip of dive-flying yet, and so he flew right into Russel. 2D and Noodle jumped back and yelped from the sudden sight. 

"Aaa! What the hell Muds?" Russ yelled, pulling the still-tiny Murdoc away from himself. 

"Well sorry for trying to show up," Murdoc laughed. Russel shook his head and dropped Murdoc on the ground, where he quickly shifted back to his human form. 

"Thanks for that, ya stitched-up goof," Murdoc groaned, cracking his knuckles. Russ sighed and continued on, with the others following suit. 

Seeing the desolate wasteland before her sent chills up and down Noodle's spine. It felt much too quiet. She stared at all the cracks in the ground beneath her talons, careful as not to trip over any of them, as they were rather big. 

Suddenly, a scratching sound from underground was heard. Noodle stopped in her tracks to listen closely. It sounded like someone was either trying to break free, or it was a small animal digging underneath. 

"Noodle, why'd ya stop?" Murdoc asked, noticing the demon wasn't following them anymore. Noodle didn't give an answer, her eyes trained on the ground beneath her. When the scratching stopped, she assumed it wasn't anything horrible and continued on. 

That's when it grabbed her. 

An arm popped out of a hole and grabbed Noodle by the leg, tripping her up and sending her falling to the ground. She yelped as she landed with a big thud, grabbing the attention of the others. Then the arm started dragging Noodle into the hole 

"GUYS! HELP! PLEASE!" Noodle cried. 

As everyone started running over, Noodle set her hand ablaze and reached to grab the arm that was dragging her, hopefully to set it on fire and be released. But the hand didn't let go. It didn't even leave a mark. 

Noodle's eyes widened in horror. She didn't even notice until it happened that Murdoc had grabbed her arms and was pulling her back. Her legs were almost completely down the hole now, and she worried Murdoc wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. 

"Don't let go! Don't let go!" Noodle cried, tears streaming down her face. Murdoc shook his head, he would never let her go. 

Murdoc was now holding onto Noodle's arms, 2D was holding onto Murdoc by his sides, and Russel was holding onto 2D by his middle. It was a big struggle to keep Noodle from going into the hole any further, let alone pulling her out. Eventually, the struggle became so much 2D's arms broke away from the rest of his body, still attached onto Murdoc, sending him and Russel falling to the ground, and Murdoc falling forward, letting go of Noodle. She screamed the whole way down. 

"NOODLE!" Murdoc yelled. She was gone. She couldn't be gone, but she was. Murdoc sank to the floor, almost ready to break down. Meanwhile, 2D was on the floor freaking out his arms got detached once again. Murdoc pulled 2D's arms off his own body and threw them at the zombie's face, hitting 2D right on the nose. 

"Ow!" 2D shuddered, being pulled from his current state. Russel helped reattach 2D's arms as Murdoc paced around the hole, which was now partially filled up. He drew in shaky breaths and let out shakier ones in return. Even Russel was horrified at what happened. 

"Murdoc? Where did Noodle go?" 2D asked quietly, managing to stand up now his arms were in place. 

"How should I fucking know?" Murdoc cried. "None of us know what that thing was, where it's taken her, why, anything!" Murdoc brought both his hands up to his face and started tugging on his hair. 

"I might know one thing," Russel murmured. 

Murdoc stopped tugging on his hair and looked at Russ. "What? What is it? You've been with her for the longest so spill it mate!" 

"All she told me when I first found her was that she failed," Russel explained. "And I'd found her by a hole as well, similar to the one she went down, but a bit larger. And she did mention she came from Hell too." 

Everyone's face drained when they realized what just happened.

It took both Russel and 2D to stop Murdoc from jumping into the hole. He was putting up quite the fight trying to break free. 

"LET ME GO! WE NEED TO GET NOODLE!" 

"Murdoc, please! You can't go through Hell on your own to find Noodle!" 2D cried. He was struggling to keep Murdoc's arms from flailing out, which eventually led to his own right arm flying off from the pressure. He screamed and rushed to grab it, allowing Murdoc the ability to break free from Russel's grip. Russel then attempted to body tackle Murdoc so he couldn't escape, but Murdoc had swiftly turned into a bat by that point, so Russel really only fell to the ground. 

"Murdoc!" 2D called out angrily, amazingly stopping the bat in his tracks. "Please! Come back. If you fly away, we'll get no closer to finding Noodle." 

Murdoc almost froze completely. Quickly, he turned back into a human and fell to the ground. Luckily he hadn't flown too far up to hurt himself.

"Ok then faceache, where do we start?" 

"Ask Russel. He'd know." 2D gestured toward Russel, allowing him to speak.

"Wait, what makes you think I have a plan?" Russel asked. 2D and Murdoc went completely numb. They half expected this, but it was still a slight shock. 

"Russ, you know the most about what's going on! You've been with Noodle the longest! At least give us a scrap of an idea!" 2D stammered. He could feel his throat tightening, like he would be very close to tears. Russel took notice and tried to think of something, anything. 

"Guys, I dunno if we can do anything," he finally said. 

It took all 2D's strength to both keep Murdoc from hurting Russ, and also to make sure his own limbs didn't break off again. 

"Bloody hell do ya mean we can't do anything?" Murdoc yelled. "Our Noodle is down there and we have to find her!" 

"Muds, if case you forgot, Noodle was taken back to Hell. Back, to, Hell. I doubt there's anything more we can do now, unless they just wanted to kick her out again," Russel explained. Murdoc slowed down with his trashing, but still didn't stop completely.

"Well still, we can't just bum around and do nothing when Noodle just got dragged down for who knows what!" he cried. 2D made small noises of pain from having to hold back Murdoc for so long, hopefully he could let go soon. 

Russel put his hands up in defeat. "Ok, if you really want to try and do something, then how about this. We wait it out near the hole the entire day. If she doesn't come up by next sundown, then we continue on. That sound good?" 

Now Murdoc had stopped trashing about completely, meaning 2D could let him go. 2D gave a sigh of relief, a single tear trailing down his face as he unwrapped his arms from Murdoc's torso. Murdoc in turn slumped to the ground, a look of exasperation on his face. "Fine," he muttered. 2D sat down in relief alongside Murdoc. Russel stood where he was and stared at the sky for a few seconds before saying, "How about D and I take first watch Muds? Looks like it's gonna be morning soon, with sunlight on the way." 

Murdoc looked up at the sky with Russ. Sure enough, the sky seemed to be getting lighter, and a few clouds seemed to be parting. In a small panic, Murdoc changed into his bat form and prepared to take off for the nearest shelter. Russel then grabbed Murdoc by the wing before he could leave. 

"Listen Muds, you better know where you're going and find us after the day ends. We don't wanna be looking for you after all this, got it?"

"Yep Russ, got it, clear as crystal," Murdoc stammered, trying to free himself from Russel's grip. When Russel seemed satisfied, he promptly let go of Murdoc and watched him take off for yonder. 

"Now we wait?" 2D asked. 

"Now we wait," Russel confirmed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, in Hell, Noodle meets an all too familiar figure...

"Wake up." 

Noodle obeyed the familiar voice and lifted herself off the ground. It was warm and red, much like her surroundings. She didn't even need to feel the burning humidity on her face before she realized she was in Hell. Correction, she was dragged back to Hell. The question now was why. 

"Focus!" the voice commanded. Quickly, Noodle directed her gaze at the demon in front of her. Looking right into their eyes, she remembered who the voice belonged to. 

"Kyuzo," she greeted, a blank look now on her face. "Can't say it's a pleasure to be meeting you again, after what happened last time we saw each other." 

"I understand 23, or should I be calling you Noodle now?" Kyuzo said. Noodle stepped back, shocked, at both the remembrance of her old name, and the understanding Kyuzo had of her new one. 

"Ah yes, I have been keeping a close eye on you since we kicked you 23. And I've been noticing your prowess," Kyuzo explained. 

"Prowess?" Noodle snapped. "What are you talking about?" 

Kyuzo chuckled, walking around Noodle as he spoke. "You see 23, as you know, every demon in Hell is brought to life for a purpose. Yours, as you also know, was to be a soldier. Even though you had gotten kicked out for your... shall we say defective acts, I still was convinced there was something inside you that the others didn't know. So I observed you in secret until I found something worthy to allow the others to know so we could... reform you." 

Noodle threw a fireball at the speed of light at Kyuzo. He dodged it in record time.

"There's no need to go all snake eyes on me, 23," he sighed. "But this is precisely the reason we had you come back here." 

"You mean drag me here against my will?" Noodle snarled.

"So our method was a little brash." 

"Brash would be an understatement." 

"Nevertheless, we shall begin your reformation at once. Starting with..." 

From thin air, a small hand mirror appeared in Kyuzo's hand. He held it up to Noodle's face, where she saw what he meant. 

"What's wrong with this picture?" Kyuzo asked. 

Noodle stared at herself in the mirror, first taking notice of her hair, still containing its crunchy, singed ends and light dustings of ashes, back when she first scorched her hair off in anger. She was lucky she knew how to regrow it, as well as Russel being able to help style it for her. She even changed the color from its dark purple to a jet black. She enjoyed it, but deep down, she instantly knew it wasn't what was typical for a soldier. It was standard to have the hair covering the eyes, to prevent any distractions. 

"The hair," she finally muttered. Kyuzo nodded. He swiped a finger down the middle strand of her hair, growing her bangs back out instantly, covering her eyes once more. Noodle brushed a small cluster of bangs away from her eye to look in the mirror. Oddly enough, the color and back length, down to her shoulders, stayed the same. She gazed up at Kyuzo curiously.

"Ah yes, that," Kyuzo softly chuckled, as though he knew what Noodle was wondering. "I thought you could keep at least something of yours. You look like a good soldier now. Shall we continue with the reformation now?"

Noodle was shaking. She felt close to tears, and very conflicted. She didn't want to be back. But at the same time, she did wish to return deep down. After all, it was meant to be her one purpose in life. But at the same time, she couldn't just up and leave her friends. Her tail twisted up in anger, and her hands burst into flames. Then with a snap of his fingers, the fireballs were magneted into Kyuzo's hand, followed by him quickly extinguishing them. 

"Don't be like that 23, you don't really have a choice at this point," he said. "You may miss your friends on the surface world, but you may see them sometime. You were made to be the perfect soldier, now come along. This is what the reforming will be for." 

Kyuzo took off for a nearby door in long strides, Noodle slowly keeping up. She feared what Kyuzo meant when she may 'see her friends again sometime'. Hopefully it would never be the case.

"Through this door," Kyuzo instructed. Noodle obeyed and went through, stepping into a target practice area. She remembered this from her training from way back when. 

"Am I going through training all over again?" she asked. Kyuzo gave her a side glance and laughed. 

"Surely not, unless you want to of course. You've already gone through this and passed with flying colours when you first started, so I don't think there's any reason to put you through this again. That being said..." 

With a snap of his fingers, the targets disappeared, being replaced with very realistic looking dummies. Specifically, dummies of other demons. At least, she assumed they weren't the real thing.

"We will start with your reformation like this. Are you able to torch those who are innocent?" Kyuzo stated. 

Noodle looked up and down each one of the demons, hung lifelessly by the stick they were on. Gazing one of them in the eyes, she noticed them blinking. She almost gasped from the shock. 

"Are these demons still living?" she asked in horror. Kyuzo gave a stern nod. 

"So what will you do?" he asked. 

Noodle stepped back, feeling unable to fight. She knew why she had to do this, but she couldn't. He couldn't make her. 

As though he could read her thoughts, Kyuzo snapped his fingers and sent a wave of pain through Noodle's legs, bruising them right at the ankles. Noodle yelped in pain and fell to the ground. Looking up, she saw Kyuzo's hardened expression, holding nothing but disappoint and anger, just like the last time she saw him. She couldn't do this. She could never do this, hurt someone innocent. Sometimes she couldn't even bring it in herself to hurt the zombies that she and the others had come across during their journeys. 

"23, will you cooperate?" Kyuzo asked after some time had passed. Noodle's entire body shook as she struggled to rise up. She could feel hot tears ready to escape her face. But it took all her willpower not to cry, especially in front of her so called trainer. Instead, she directed it toward her hand, which brought up a ball of flame. Hesitantly, she raised her arm and positioned it. She stood in that pose for about 30 seconds more before Kyuzo snapped his fingers again, bruising Noodle again, but now at the stomach. She doubled over and cried in pain once more, feeling her whole body sting each time her shirt even so much as brushed over the hurt area. 

"I said, will you cooperate?" Kyuzo asked again. Already sobbing, Noodle reluctantly tossed the new fireball in her hand at the demon. The demon didn't even scream as he burnt up in flames. Noodle rubbed her throwing arm intensely, tears still flowing down her face. Kyuzo looked pleased to an extent. He turned to Noodle and stated, "We'll be working on that. But at least you did it. Now come along 23. We shall continue you reformation somewhere else for now." 

Noodle's pain seemed to subside in that moment as she lifted herself up and followed Kyuzo to the next area. _ Please,_ she pleaded, _ 2D, Murdoc, Russel, someone, please come help me. _


	3. Chapter 3

With Murdoc, and therefore the primary source of chatter, away, there was nothing else for Russel and 2D to do except rest around by the hole where Noodle was taken. Neither one of them talked much, if at all, unless it was 2D asking Russel about how long till sundown, or 2D chatting with one of the ghosts living in Russel.

Then when sundown finally arrived, 2D rolled around and stretched all his limbs on the ground. Russel helped him stand up as they looked across the horizon for Murdoc. A few minutes passed however, and he was nowhere to be found.

"Murdoc should be back by now..." 2D muttered. "Where could he be?"

"Hopefully nowhere he shouldn't be," Russel answered. "If he doesn't come back by the next few minutes, we go without him. Ok?"

2D nodded, hoping Murdoc would return. He didn't want Murdoc to lose them and be so lonely. He would've known. Then again, Murdoc clearly was ok spending time to himself, so maybe it wouldn't be that bad? No, that couldn't be right. He seemed so much more calm nowadays, especially around 2D, Noodle, and Russ.

So minutes passed, and passed. And Murdoc was still unable to be seen. Occasionally, 2D thought he saw a little dot flying towards them, but it was only a crow.

"D, he's obviously not coming. Let's go," Russel told 2D for the third time.

2D almost opened his mouth to argue once again, but looking up, it was most likely midnight. Many hours after they said they'd wait for Murdoc. In defeat, 2D stood back up and sighed. Russel standing up with him, they resumed their trek sans half their crew. That is, until a screeching noise was heard overhead.

"That's Murdoc!" 2D shouted. "That's his little bat screech!"

"I know that D," Russel sighed, "but what happened? Why'd he take so long?"

"Let's find out!" 2D started running toward Murdoc, calling his name and waving his arms. Within seconds, Murdoc got closer and closer, until he fell onto the ground, his breathing faint and shallow.

2D hovered over Murdoc's tiny bat form. He hadn't changed into a human yet. What happened?

"Murdoc, you o- OH SWEET-!" 2D screamed, clasping his hands over his mouth. Russel came over in an instant, giving the same reaction.

Murdoc's left wing had a huge tear in it, and his right ear was bleeding, as was his right cheek. It was a miracle he was able to fly so well and for so long before passing out. Carefully, 2D flipped Murdoc on his stomach to check for any other injuries. Sure enough, there was another one across his back. Not horribly deep, but long still.

"We need to get Muds medical help!" 2D yelled.

"Hold on!" Russel shouted just as loud, pulling a bag off his back and opening it, revealing a first aid kit. "I knew we should've brought this." He fished out the bandages and ointment, tossing them towards 2D, who uncapped the tube and unraveled the roll for Russ to apply. After a few minutes, Murdoc was all patched up, and hopefully healing.

A couple hours later, 2D sat staring intently at the small creature, as though his stare would make Murdoc heal faster. Russel was fast asleep on the ground, a slight glow emanating from his mouth, a sign one of the ghosts within him would be coming out.

"Hello Stuart," Wilford said, floating out of Russ' mouth.

"Hey Wilford," 2D sighed, shifting his legs around. Wilford adjusted his glasses, peering down at Murdoc, still out cold, yet luckily still breathing, and much less shallow at that.

"I heard about Murdoc. Is he doing alright?" Wilford asked.

"Yeah, he looks like he's getting better." 2D turned Murdoc on his stomach, checking over his wounds for the nth time.

"You really do care for your friend, don't you?"

"I do, for whatever reason. I mean, Murdoc did fracture my only good eye, and knocked me out, and has hurt me in various other ways. And it's not like I've simply looked past all that either. I don't forgive him for what he did to me, and what he continues to do to me. But, I don't want to see him get hurt either. He already seems to have been hurt so much in the past."

Wilford nodded all through 2D's explanation. At the end, he shrugged his shoulders and looked over 2D's shoulder at the unconscious bat. "He seems to be getting better."

"That's good. Now if he's able to wake up soon, that will be even better, and we can get out."

"You and Russel really don't want to find Noodle, eh?"

2D's face seemed to drain. "It's not that we don't want to! It's just we aren't able to! Believe you me, we'd try to go after her if we could. But where she's gone is somewhere we aren't able to go, and a challenge we aren't able to get through without one of us ending up there with her!"

"But your friend is very determined to do so, correct?"

"Yeah, Murdoc really does care about Noodle. Maybe even more than us, seeing as how willing he is to risk himself to save her. Hell, Russel's known her longest and even he thinks getting her back will be tough. But Murdoc... wow is he dumb."

2D chuckled, turning Murdoc on his stomach once more. Silently, he begged for Murdoc to wake up, or even to shift back to his human form at some point if he was able. He couldn't have been dead. He actually couldn't, he was technically immortal anyway, as long as he wasn't hurt in any of the ways he could've been, stake through the heart, etc. And he was still breathing, so that was a good sign.

A few minutes passed, and suddenly, 2D saw Murdoc's eyelids fluttering. Wilford, still by 2D's side, floated around to face the zombie, eager to see if Murdoc to awaken. A few minutes more, and Murdoc was coughing awake.

"Should I awaken Russel?" Wilfored asked. Almost out of breath from sighing with relief, 2D nodded. Within a few seconds, Russel woke up as well.

"What happened D?" Russel asked, tiredness lingering in his voice.

"WHY ARE YOU LOT HERE?" a gruff sounding voice emerged, causing 2D to wince back. _ I believe that answers your question, _ he thought.

"You alright Murdoc?" Russel crouched down at 2D's side. 2D continued to hold Murdoc, though now at a distance, like Murdoc was a disease. 

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED? HOW LONG WAS I OUT?" Murdoc yelled. He wriggled around in 2D's hands, eager to be put down, which 2D happily did. Quickly, Murdoc shifted back to his human form, the bandages around his middle and on his wing tearing off his body. 

"You were out for a couple hours, you passed out as soon as you had managed to fly back to us," Russel explained. "You want me to reapply your bandages? And what happened to you?" 

"Don't worry about me Russ, I'm perfectly OH GOD!" Murdoc doubled over, clutching his middle and arm in pain. 2D rushed to the first aid kit, tossing the bandages and antiseptic cream in the cloth giant's direction. 

Grabbing Murdoc by his good arm, Russel speedily applied the cream to the wounded parts of his body, his face, back, etc. He then just as quickly wrapped the bandages around his entire middle, - stomach to chest, sparing no skin - his left arm, and set a stick-on band-aid across his cheek. 

"Next time we get to a store, we'll try to find some medicine for you, ok?" Russel said. Murdoc nodded, shuddering in pain. He stared at the ground, gripping onto his arm in hopes it would get better soon. 

"Thanks Russ," Murdoc sighed. 

"Are you able to explain to us how you ended up like this now?" 2D asked. 

Murdoc looked up at his friends, their faces expressing concern, and maybe even anger. He took a deep breath before he explained. 

"I did manage to get to the forest from whence we just came from and hide out there for the day. Just before sundown, I'd perched myself on a tree to have a snooze, when the tree got shaken down and I almost fell right into the middle of a hoard!" 

Everyone's eyes widened. Running into a hoard was no joke. "Continue," 2D offered. 

"I pulled up from them at the last second," Murdoc obliged, "but I couldn't escape without earning a few scratches from the taller and jumpier zombies. They really did a deal on me. Plumb passed out before I could make it fully back to you guys." 

A few seconds of silence passed. Afterwards, it became clear Murdoc's story had finished. 

"I'm so sorry Murdoc. Hopefully your wounds heal soon, Russ planned on us leaving in the next couple minutes," 2D said. 

Murdoc opened his mouth to argue, but ultimately decided no. They had waited, and Noodle hadn't come back up. She was gone, and no one could do anything about it. In defeat, he lowered his head and stumbled in the direction they were headed. 2D and Russel followed, upset they couldn't do anything for Noodle, and knowing as well Murdoc's desire to save her.


End file.
